New Releases for February 2012

Categories: new releases
Posted on January 27, 2012 by Amy | Leave a comment

by Amy Wilkins, Harlequin Digital

Check out Harlequin’s lineup of paranormal romances for February 2012:

Claimed by the Vampire by Rachel Lee (part of The Claiming series, Harlequin Nocturne)

Beautiful and independent, writer Yvonne Dupuis is used to taking care of herself. But when she moves into her new apartment and senses a demon watching her every move, stalking her at every turn, she has no choice but to put her life in the hands of a dangerously sexy vampire.

From the first whiff of Yvonne’s intoxicating scent, Investigator Creed Preston knows his client has something to fear. Under Creed’s protection, she will be drawn irresistibly in by his secrets and experience the sheer force of immortal desire. And not a moment too soon. For the evil hunting her isn’t acting alone—and he won’t stop until he claims her for his very own…

A Warrior’s Desire by Pamela Palmer (part of The Esri series, Harlequin Nocturne)

Former navy SEAL Charlie Rand embarks on the most dangerous mission of his career when he dives through a portal to rescue the only person who knows how to seal the gates between the Esri faery land and the world. But meeting up with his guide and companion through the adventure, the beautiful Tarrys, turns out to be his true revelation.

As the pair traverses the dangerous plains, the Forest of Nightmares and the crystal mines of Esria, they’re pursued by beings who seek to kill Charlie and enslave Tarrys. But the greatest danger of all becomes the love that grows between the couple, a love that threatens to doom their mission to save humanity.

Horizon by Sophie Littlefield (book three of The Aftertime series, Luna Books)

Cass Dollar is a survivor. She’s overcome the meltdown of civilization, humans turned mindless cannibals, and the many evils of man.

But from beneath the devastated California landscape emerges a tendril of hope. A mysterious traveler arrives at New Eden with knowledge of a passageway North—a final escape from the increasingly cunning Beaters. Clutching this dream, Cass and many others decamp and follow him into the unknown.

Journeying down valleys and over barren hills, Cass remains torn between two men. One—her beloved Smoke—is not so innocent as he once was. The other keeps a primal hold on her that feels like Fate itself. And beneath it all, Cass must confront the worst of what’s inside her—dark memories from when she was a Beater herself. But she, and all of the other survivors, will fight to the death for the promise of a new horizon….

Horizon by Caridad Pineiro (Harlequin Nocturne Cravings)

For over a century, Lord Alec Wright has been condemned to wander the Earth searching for a mummy he stole from an Egyptian tomb. Cursed to see all his loved ones die, he also must endure the spirit that tortures him with unrelenting arousal every night until he atones for his crime.

After years of searching, Alec has finally found what he seeks—but museum curator Kate Morton stands his way. The mummy’s spirit is affecting her as well, driving her wild with desire. It is the perfect opportunity for Alec to seduce Kate and obtain the artifact. But in his quest to end his torment, will Alec wind up losing his heart?

In the Service of the King by Laura Kaye (Harlequin Nocturne Cravings)

Kael, Warrior King of the Vampires loathes the Night of the Proffering. He needs the blood of either his mate or a human virgin to maintain his strength, but hasn’t enjoyed the ritual since he lost his mate centuries ago. Kael doesn’t want a new companion, yet his resolve is tested when he lays eyes on his new offering, Shayla McKinnon. He is drawn to Shayla’s beauty and poise…and the submission she offers. She is eager to give him anything he wishes, including her innocence, to please him. Will Kael give in to their overwhelming desire—even if it means risking Shayla’s life?

Mesmerize by Artist Arthur (part of the Mystyx series, Kimani TRU)

You can’t move forward until you deal with the past…

Starting over is nothing new to diplomat’s daughter Lindsey Yi. She’s grown up changing schools the way other girls change clothes. Still, moving to Lincoln, Connecticut, is different. Although she’s still reeling from the loss of her parents in an accident, Lindsey is finally in a place that feels like home. Because here, Lindsey’s ability to read other people’s thoughts doesn’t make her weird. It makes her one of the Mystyx.

When Dylan Murphy—hot, popular and a senior—starts to notice her, things get serious, fast. But even as she’s figuring out how she really feels, the Mystyx realize that they’re not the only supernaturals in town. There are other gifted teens who have different motives. And they are hoping to get close enough to the Mystyx to convert them—and the world—to Darkness….

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Horizon: Looking Back at the End of the Journey, by Sophie Littlefield

Categories: paranormal books
Posted on January 25, 2012 by Amy | 3 Comments

by Sophie Littlefield, author of Horizon (book 3 of the Aftertime series, Luna Books, February 2012)

Coming to the end of the AFTERTIME series was a remarkably emotional event for me. I’m not supposed to say stuff like this, but this series kicked my butt harder than anything I’ve written so far – and I love it the most. I’m proud of all the work I’ve published, and grateful to every editor who’s helped me shape my books, but this series forced me to dig deeper and work harder to get the emotion on the page than I ever have before.

At the same time, I’ve known from the start that this series isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. When I received my author copies, I gave one to my friend Lynn with the caution that she wasn’t to actually read it: I knew it was too dark, too creepy, too sad for her. I knew that my target readers would share my love of dark themes and deep character building and non-traditional relationships.

Some authors have time to consider reader feedback when writing subsequent books. If a series has stretched over many books or years – even decades, in some cases – readers’ reactions to the characters and storylines, their interpretations and suggestions, often determine the direction of a series.

In the AFTERTIME series, there simply wasn’t time. I wrote the first draft of AFTERTIME in fall and winter of 2010, and my agent inked the deal with Harlequin the following April. Adam Wilson, my editor, sketched out his thoughts about creating a trilogy, and we came up with the skeleton of a series arc. The deadlines were challenging, because the first book in the series was to come out barely a year later, and the second and third three and six months after that.

With only three months between releases, I had to have most of the series finished before the first readers ever turned page one. This meant I could only guess at how people would feel about my very damaged heroine and the choices she made.

Earlier today, as I cleaned my office (one of my release-day traditions, along with lunch at Nation’s Giant Burger and a manicure), I came across my notes from my early conversations with Adam. At the end of the notes was a series of questions and concerns I came up with before diving into edits. As I read through them again today, I was surprised at how some of them ended up being resolved. I thought you might enjoy a peek behind the scenes.

Cass – how dark?

How dark, indeed? This was the thought that never strayed far from my mind from the first time I heard Pink’s song, “Sober.” That song was the inspiration for the entire series, and I envisioned a young woman devastated and crushed by addiction – but not without hope. I knew I had to keep the ember of her determination lit throughout the series if I was to keep her sympathetic. The trick – the challenge – was to let it dim so far that everyone, myself included, really believed it might go out.

I really put Cass through her paces, a fact that few reviewers missed and some did not care for. Others, however, appreciated that her struggles – while dire – occur in real life. Childhood trauma, loss of a parent, sexual molestation, addiction, self-harm – every time Cass made a step forward, I was there to pile on complications and temptations and devastations. (Then, of course, I had to write my way back, but that’s a whole different problem.)

Ruthie – character?

To provide Cass with a reason to keep going, I gave her a daughter. I knew Ruthie was a toddler, somewhere between two and four years old. A child that age may not have a fully developed on-page character, but she had to be unique and compelling in her own right. I started with a physical description – I imagined a little girl like you might see on a Victorian postcard, pink-cheeked and cherubic – and then considered how she might have reacted to the horrific events of the apocalypse. Ruthie is by turns silent, fearful, clingy, tentative – but also occasionally mirthful, mischievous, loving. She is, after all, Cass’s daughter and I thought it was important to show that she inherited her resilience.

What does Smoke want?

Smoke appeared early in AFTERTIME, and from the start he was heroic, and the sexual tension between him and Cass sizzling. But that wasn’t enough. I had to figure out the motivation for both his willingness to help Cass on a near-impossible mission – and for the decisions he make that separate them in REBIRTH. This took quite some time, as it turns out, and I wasn’t 100% certain of the details until I was well into HORIZON. I had clarity about Smoke’s emotional palette, just not the details of the events that created it. Luckily, this resolved itself in one of those midnight-oil epiphanies with which we writers are occasionally visited.

Sex – zombies?

Not zombies having sex – they don’t, silly, everyone knows that! No, the dilemma is how to make it believable that people would still be in the mood to get it on, when outside the gate, flesh eaters are trying to force their way in. This is a tricky challenge, one that many urban fantasy authors struggle with. To be successful, the author must create such overwhelming attraction between characters that the reader is willing to go along. And as every good romance author knows, that sort of attraction is built from strong, credible motivation. So the question really was, what backstory elements have prepared my characters to be receptive to romantic love?

Tactile pleasures

The five senses are never more important than one is writing about the end of the world. It was easy enough to come up with horrifying details – the smell of decaying flesh, the sound of snapping jaws, the sight of wrecked cars spilling the dead onto the pavement, the taste of canned soup after you’ve subsisted on weeds for weeks – but it was more challenging to come up with details that conveyed pleasure. Without these, AFTERTIME might have been unbearably dark, so I worked hard to get them right, and they are among my favorite details in the book. Things like the feel of a smooth stone in one’s hand, the smell of rain-refreshed dirt, the sound of a child’s laugh, the sight of a seedling pushing green shoots through cracked pavement.

The last of my release-day pleasures is choosing a book from my TBR pile, climbing into bed, and digging in. Reviewing my AFTERTIME journey has me in the mood to explore someone else’s fictional world, and I’d love to hear your ideas. Would anyone like to share their favorite dark dystopian or fantasy book or series?

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The Darkest Secret, by Stephanie Draven

Categories: paranormal books
Posted on January 17, 2012 by Amy | 3 Comments

by Stephanie Draven, author of The Fever and the Fury (Harlequin Nocturne Cravings, January 2012)

I don’t harbor many deep dark secrets, but like every person ever born, there are a few. Little failures of character that accumulate alongside the triumphs. Things that embarrass me. Things that might complicate, compromise, or destroy my relationships with others.

When I met the man I could share those secrets with, I knew he was the one for me. That he could listen with a forgiving heart, or laugh at my foibles, or offer insights meant that I didn’t have to live in fear. I was loved for myself–my whole self. And that’s true love.

Consequently, it always saddens me when I meet other women who say that they keep secrets from their spouses. Sometimes I think I’m writing the stories I write just for them, because the turning point in my love stories almost always revolve around the precise moment of maximum vulnerability…when the deep dark secrets come pouring out…and true intimacy is achieved.

In The Fever & The Fury my heroine’s secret is so deep and dark, she dares not even share it with herself. She’s an ancient fury, a minion of the Greek Goddess of Battle, Athena, and she’s been unleashed to mete out vengeance. Once, she valued her role as a force of justice in the world, but over the centuries, Phaedra’s life as a fury has become more and more monstrous…to the point that she no longer feels like a force for good in the world. She’s come to hate her job, she’s come to hate her life, and she’s come to hate herself. When she admits that to herself, and to her victim, he offers her compassion. It’s something so foreign to Phaedra that it makes her unravel and it allows her to feel love for the first time in her life, even if that’s an emotion that threatens her entire existence.

I loved writing that scene–the one in which a man who is being tormented is actually capable of offering comfort to his tormentor. It made me fall in love with Lieutenant Luke Lazaros just as Phaedra does…because if you can forgive someone who has done you wrong isn’t that the strongest test of your humanity?

Of course, just because Luke has a soft heart under the hard-bodied exterior doesn’t mean that he’s an easy man to love. Luke has secrets of his own and when Phaedra uncovers them, it leaves them both vulnerable and raw. Just the way a hero and heroine should be when slip into the pleasures of a torrid love affair!

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Stephanie Draven is a multi-published award-nominated author of myth-inspired paranormal romance. Writing for HQN Nocturne, Stephanie’s Mythica series asks the question: What if the monsters of ancient mythology still walked the earth…and what if you found out that you were one of them? Currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies, Stephanie lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books.

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What Is It Really Like to Be an Immortal? by Olivia Gates

Categories: paranormal books
Posted on January 12, 2012 by Amy | Leave a comment

by Olivia Gates, USA Today bestselling author of Immortal, Insatiable, Indomitable (Harlequin Nocturne Cravings)

Immortals are a mainstay of paranormal lore, from the time of the oldest fables to the latest offerings on the market today. But whenever I read the word immortal, questions always nagged at me.

While living forever young and healthy (and mostly with some fantastic power or another) sounds like the ultimate fantasy to us mortals, what would true immortality be like? What would keep an immortal, who is basically human in emotions and nature, going through an endless existence?

I decided to ask that question of my immortal Viking hero in Immortal, Insatiable, Indomitable. As an Original member of the Legion Of Loki, Vidar had pledged allegiance to the cause of the Norse god thousands of years ago.

But just my luck, as I opened the book intent on having him explain what makes his immortality sustainable, he surprised me by saying: nothing!

He’d just chosen this point in his existence to end it all!

Turns out even immortals need purpose and achievement to validate their existence.  And he no longer has a sense of either. He has strong ties to his Legionnaire brothers, but friendship, no matter how enduring, is no longer enough to keep him in an existence he’s long seen as pointless.

Just as I was wracking my brain for arguments to make him reconsider, a wild card materializes to turn everything upside down.

Kara, a wholly beautiful to him mortal, walks out after him in the cold, dark alley where he intends to die and braves deadly danger to defend him. Suddenly death is the last thing on his mind as she ignites his long jaded senses and his extinguished passion for life.

But cruel irony isn’t far behind. Now he wants to live to love her, he knows she would soon die. What follows is an incendiary rollercoaster of passion and desperation…and that’s before the unforeseen happens and threatens to tear them apart in life…and death.

I loved writing Vidar and Kara’s story (even though my laptop died suddenly while writing it, taking with it three unsaved chapters…shudderrrrr…)! Hope you’ll enjoy their story and their universe as much as I did creating them.

PS. Here’s how I envisioned Vidar and Kara. Was this how you did, too? If not, who did you see in your mind’s eye as you read their story?

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Gena Showalter and Jill Monroe “Dating the Undead” Booksigning & Video

Categories: author news, paranormal genre
Posted on January 9, 2012 by Amy | Leave a comment

by Amy Wilkins, Harlequin Digital

Want to meet authors Gena Showalter and Jill Monroe? Want to get your copy of their new magazine-style book Dating the Undead autographed? Live near Oklahoma City?

If so, you are in luck! Tomorrow, Gena and Jill will be doing a Dating the Undead booksigning Full Circle books. Here are the details via Gena’s website:

Time: January 10, 2012 from 6:30pm to 8pm
Location: Full Circle books
Street: 1900 NW Expressway
City/Town: Oklahoma City

Gena will also be giving away poster sized covers for The Darkest Seduction and Wicked Nights by raffle for those who stop by the event.

Plus, check out this  special Author Talk video where Gena and Jill, along with their friend Sheila, talk vampires, werewolves and dragons and Dating The Undead.

More about Dating the Undead:

They’re drop-dead handsome–and we’re not kidding!

Welcome to the first and only guide devoted to loving the immortal man in all of his furry, feathery, fiery glory. Here is a forbidden-fruit salad of features, fiction, fashion, and more, including:

–Lipstick on His Collar
Is your immortal just a little bit…immoral?

–Angel in the Kitchen
Heavenly dishes that don’t take an eternity to prepare

–A Kiss Is Not Just A Kiss
Immortals we crave divulge their lip-smacking turn-ons

–Undead & Well-Read
What’s hot between the covers this month

–A View from a Guy
Zombie Jack’s turn

–Immorstrology
Our indispensable guide to heavenly bodies

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Why I Love Paranormal Romances, by Karen Whiddon

Categories: paranormal books
Posted on January 4, 2012 by Amy | 3 Comments

by Karen Whiddon, author of Wolf Whisperer (Harlequin Nocturne, January 2012)

Over the years, I’ve published many different kinds of romances.  From Historical Romance to Contemporary, from Romantic Suspense to Paranormal Romance.  Currently I write for both Harlequin Romantic Suspense and Harlequin Nocturne.  The Nocturnes are, as you know, paranormal romances.  I have a lot of fun writing them.

Originally I started out with a single idea — a female werewolf.  She was a kick-ass, sexy lady and when my agent pitched the book to Leslie Wainger at what was then Silhouette Intimate Moments, she bought it.  Writing that story was a blast!  That book, One Eye Open, became the basis for what is now my popular Pack series with Harlequin Nocturne.

I love writing these books because I can create new species.  So far I’ve written books with Vampires and of course the ever-present Shape-shifters, but I’ve also added a couple of new twists — children born to vampires and shape-shifters (The Lone Wolf) and now The Tearlachs, a special brand of Pack.  My January Nocturne Wolf Whisperer features two Shape-shifters, one of whom is a Tearlach, and a special twist on their path to love.  In the end, that’s all that matters after all.  Love.

I don’t know about you, but I write and read Paranormal books to escape from the real world.  What is more fun that imagining what it must be like to be able to become a wolf, to change into another species and run wild throughout the woods?

Why do you like to read Paranormal Romance?  And what species do you most identify with?  Would you rather be courted by a 700 year old vampire or a wild and sexy werewolf?

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New Year, New Releases for January 2012!

Categories: new releases, paranormal books
Posted on December 27, 2011 by Amy | Leave a comment

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

by Amy Wilkins, Harlequin Digital

Can you believe 2012 is almost here! Now, assuming the world doesn’t end this weekend (but that’s not supposed to happen until December, right? :) ), check out these new paranormal romances and fantasy novels being released by Harlequin in January:

Claim the Night by Rachel Lee (book 1 of The Claiming series, Harlequin Nocturne)

From New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Rachel Lee comes a sensual new series about mesmerizing vampire detectives and the love they discover, deep in the night…

Jude Messenger felt the hunger deep inside him. From the moment he’d rescued Theresa Black from a late-night attack, he’d ached for things he knew he could never have. The touch of her skin. The taste of her blood. But if the vampire claimed her, one of them might not survive.

So Jude did everything he could to make Terri stay away.

But a demon stalked the sexy spitfire, and Jude had no choice but to protect a woman who created a longing inside him that could never be sated….

Wolf Whisperer by Karen Whiddon (part of The Pack series, Harlequin Nocturne)

In a world where betrayal and deceit are everywhere, can love conquer all? Don’t miss this latest romance in Karen Whiddon’s popular Pack series.

Since his mate’s death, the only thing that’s kept pack protector Mac Lamonda going is the search for his missing children. His hatred for the rival clan who took them is legendary. But when a beautiful shifter saves him from an ambush, Mac enters into a bond that is both seductive…and dangerous.

Rehabilitating abused canines is Kelly McKenzie’s life calling. And because of who she is, she distrusts everything Pack. So when the handsome protector’s arrival at her sanctuary coincides with news of her sister’s disappearance, Kelly is torn between suspicion…and desire.

Now, Kelly and Mac must join and fight together. For, if they fail, their loved ones will become the victims of an unimaginable evil.

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder (book 1 of The Healers series, Mira Books)

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life….

Lara by Bertrice Small (book 1 of The World of Hetar series, HQN Books)

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author and master of romance Bertrice Small welcomes you to the magical, sensual World of Hetar.

For Lara, a half faerie, half human, her beauty is a blessing and a curse. Sold into a Pleasure House by her father, she commits herself to a lifetime of servitude. But even in a place where pleasure is not censured but encouraged, her otherworldly beauty proves too much for her suitors.

When Lara escapes, she is introduced to a new way of life, and an incredible man who opens her eyes to the growing unrest among their people…and the extraordinary destiny that awaits her. Lara will journey the depths of desire and despair to find a love that will last an eternity—a love that will change Hetar forever.

The Fever and the Fury by Stephanie Draven (Harlequin Nocturne Cravings)

She’s already killed him twice this week.

Phaedra, a fury, is bound to make Lieutenant Luke Lazaros atone for his supposed crime, but her usual method of inflicting pain doesn’t work very well on a phoenix with the power to be reborn every time he dies. However, each rebirth leaves him with an overwhelming need for sex. Phaedra’s new plan: to drive Luke mad with desire….

But Phaedra has never touched anyone—even herself—except to cause pain. She’s an innocent when it comes to pleasure…but Luke isn’t. His touch is a revelation, arousing a passion in Phaedra that is as delicious as it is terrifying. For no matter how much she wants Luke, giving herself to a man risks awakening her goddess’s wrath….

Immortal, Insatiable, Indominable by Olivia Gates (Harlequin Nocturne Cravings)

Vidar, an immortal in the service of the Norse god Loki, is ready to die—until he lays eyes on the most beautiful mortal he’s encountered in centuries. Not only is Kara sexy and eager to be ravished by him, but she also defends him from minions of his enemy…making her the only human to ever put their life on the line for him.

Vidar and Kara soon enjoy the unbridled ecstasy they seemed destined to share. Yet they know they can’t be together for long. Vidar can sense that Kara will die soon—unless he can find a way to make her immortal, too….

Enchanted Again by Robin D. Owens (part of the Mystic Circle series, Luna Books)

Magic has a price—and for Amber Sarga it’s days and years off her life. Each curse she breaks ages her—and the bigger the curse the bigger the cost, and not only to her. That’s why she hides away and has vowed not to get involved again… That’s why she hates looking in a mirror…

And then an ill-fated stranger arrives. Rafe Davail doesn’t believe in curses—not even knowing that in his family every first son dies young. Amber offers guidance but she won’t break the curse. Still, as she grows closer to Rafe and discovers the secrets of their pasts, she wonders if for this time, this man, she should risk it all….

On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane (Harlequin Teen)

The choices I had made led to the moment when fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn’t prepared for. And Death would be my willing teacher.

Five years ago, Abbey Chandler cheated Death. She survived a horrific car accident, but her “lucky” break came at the expense of her mother’s life and changed everything. After she crossed paths with Death—by taking the hand of an ethereal boy made of clouds and sky—she would never be normal again.

Now she’s the target of Death’s ravens and an innocent boy’s life is on the line. When Nate Holden—Abbey’s secret crush—starts to climb Alaska’s Denali, the Angel of Death stalks him because of her.

And Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets.

Never to Sleep by Rachel Vincent (part of the Soul Screamers series, Harlequin Teen)

Don’t Close Your Eyes.

Sophie Cavanaugh is not going to let her freak of a cousin’s strange psychiatric condition ruin high school for them both. Not after all the work she’s put into cultivating the right look, and friends, and reputation. But then, Sophie sees something so frightening she lets out a blood-curdling scream—and finds herself stuck in a bizarre parallel world where nothing is safe and deadly creatures lurk just out of sight, waiting for her to close her eyes and sleep…forever.

Could this world be real? Or does insanity run in the family…?

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Win a Harlequin Teen Prize Pack!

Categories: contests
Posted on December 21, 2011 by Amy | 57 Comments

by Amy Wilkins, Harlequin Digital

Happy holidays from everyone here at Harlequin! While you’re getting ready to celebrate this weekend, we have a special treat up for grabs for one lucky winner: a Harlequin Teen Paranormal prize pack! Prize includes:

If you’d like to win this awesome selection of goodies for yourself or a teen reader you know, just leave a comment telling us which paranormal book was your favorite read in 2011 (and it doesn’t have to be a Harlequin title :) ).

Giveaway Rules: Open to US and Canada only. Must be age of majority to win. Contest closes on Wednesday, December 28 at 11:59pm EST. Winner will be chosen by random number generation and announced on December 29. For full official rules, click here.

UPDATE: The contest is now closed. Please check the comments to see if you’ve won :)

All Things Urban Fantasy’s 2011 Paranormal Cover Art Awards

Categories: on the web, paranormal genre
Posted on December 19, 2011 by Amy | Leave a comment

by Amy Wilkins, Harlequin Digital

All Things Urban Fantasy is holding their third annual paranormal cover art awards! Until December 29, vote for your favorite UF covers of the year here.

Included among the nominees are the following Harlequin titles:

To cast your vote, click the button below!

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Happily Ever After…and Bonus! by Doranna Durgin

Categories: paranormal books
Posted on December 15, 2011 by Amy | Leave a comment

by Doranna Durgin, author of Night of the Tiger (Harlequin Nocturne Bites, December 2011)

Once upon a time, there was a greedy muse.

(You know this is me, right?)

And while romance books have to have an ending—by golly, a happily ever after ending!–as far as my muse is concerned, they’re more like The NeverEnding Story.

As far as we’re both concerned, it’s all real. The worlds from which my books are drawn is three-dimensional, populated with real people, real places, real events, and a real timeline.

That timeline starts before I ever put pen to paper, and it goes on long after I stop scribing any given story.   Relationships continue to grow and develop, new conflicts and challenges arise, and more fun stuff happens for everyone.  This goes for the main characters, the secondary characters, and even the bad guys.

And that means, given the opportunity, my greedy muse leaps at the chance to explore the what happens then or the what happened when.  Especially when it comes to those characters who are just begging for exploration, and who deserve their own stories.

Marlee Cerrosa: Me!  Pick me!

Voice over: When we last saw Marlee, she had just helped save the day in WOLF HUNT—after creating the situation in the first place, because she drank the Bad Guy’s Kool-Aide.

Marlee: I didn’t know!  The Sentinels need someone to keep them in line.  I thought that’s all I was doing!

Well, she wasn’t. But it’s true she didn’t understand the ultimate consequences of her actions (note to Marlee: Bad Guys lie), and it’s also true that the Sentinels are indeed an organization of extraordinarily gifted individuals who, if they weren’t using that might for right, would pose a real threat to…well, to just about everyone.

But as it happens, the Sentinels are protectors, and they don’t need Marlee or anyone else to make them toe the line.  Although at the moment, they’re in chaos after the conflict that Marlee unwittingly helped to orchestrate.  They’re hurt and they’re struggling to reorganize, so their last concern is Marlee Cerossa, no matter her role in the whole mess.

Marlee: Right.  Thanks.  So I’m just hanging out in house arrest at regional headquarters, waiting for someone to notice.  Typical disregard of the full-blooded Sentinels for those of us who can’t shift shape or don’t have various unnatural talents.

Well, a lot of things changed on that night. Could be that Marlee just doesn’t know it yet.

And that’s why, given the chance to write a Bite novella, my muse snapped up the chance to play with the Happily Ever After Plus.  Not that the story doesn’t stand totally on its own—it wouldn’t be a story if it didn’t create its own little world.  But Marlee—jaded, turmoiled, and in dire need of redemption—has been alone, unable to find her own way.  And Scott O’Brien, a tiger shapeshifter injured in the very melee Marlee helped to orchestrate, is on his own hunt for  what he lost in that fight.

A lot of things changed that night. Could be Marlee is about to find out…

*fist pump* Bonus!

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